WWW.LOCALISM.COM is the BOMB! What Localism Means to Me......

www.localism.com is THE internet consumer's guide for the real estate industry and any industry related to real estate. The Active Rain folks are still working on the Localism site and are forever trying to upgrade and improve our Active Rain site as well.  It takes all of us working together as a team of professionals to make this a successful tool in marketing our businesses and the real estate industry in a positive manner.

What Localism means to me:

• Give information to the consumer about the Real Estate Industry in Hawaii
• Give the consumer reasons to develop a relationship with me
• Give information to the consumer about relocating to Hawaii
• Give information to the consumer about neighborhoods and areas on Oahu, Hawaii
• Give pertinent information to the consumer about the transaction process
• Give information to the consumer about Homeowner Association Rules
• Give information to the consumer about our Purchase Contract
• Give information to the consumer on how to prepare their house for sale
• Give information to the consumer about the history of Hawaii, the art of the hula dance, the history of homes, the history of whatever I can muster up that consumers will get a feel of where they are moving
• Give eye appealing Real Estate Shows so they can "feel" how I feel when I am traveling around our island and taking those pictures
• Give information to the consumer about certain laws such as endangered species, burial laws, coastal land and such so they are aware of obstacles that they may encounter in purchasing property.
• Give information to the consumer about Oahu's Zoning laws so they are aware that it's not just a matter of money that will buy them property.
• Give information to the consumer about Preservation and Conservation land and laws in Hawaii.
• Giving the consumer news and events in our area
• Giving the consumer and visitor some points of interests to see while they are on our island
• Giving the consumer tips on safety
• Giving the consumer some information on the Hawaiian Superstitions, Legends and Myths.
• Giving the consumer my contact information if they are relocating to Hawaii and need additional information or just want to talk about Hawaii.

In other words, there are hundreds of topics to write about when it comes to giving the public information specifically for your area of business. The public wants market reports, to see listings, read mortgage programs and gain some insight into YOUR community, your lives in your community, the events, the scenery and the points of interest. Who said writing about the real estate industry was boring? YOU make it entertaining, interesting ....or boring because YOU are the one writing!

This is my most recent REAL ESTATE SHOW and it surely gives the consumer a hands on kind of feel for the area.

The consumer can go to any website and get boring "book talk" about real estate, but we have this opportunity to give way more. I don't know about you but when I read a book it has to grab my attention and most of all if it's about an area....I NEED to see some pictures to identify with what they are talking about.  I have been told many a time that I should be writing for the tourist industry in Hawaii. That's how much I love to write about my home and where I live. It's not all about selling a property...it's about selling your area too.

Posting Guidelines - Real Estate Professionals Blog is the guide to posting in the "For Real Estate Professionals" section of Active Rain. (look at the picture below for your guide to clicking when submitting your post). If you are posting an ad, listing, and information for the Consumer you DO NOT post it to the Professionals section. If you are writing for the real estate, mortgage or other related real estate industry professional...then post it here.

Online Resources  (found on the home page)  ActiveRain Community Resources - Updated 05/18/07 gives you more information on posting to Localism.

A simple help (with graphic below) guide:

• Write your post and when you're finished and ready to post....
• Remember to add favorite tag words so Google and Active Rain members can find it if using the search. I put in Hawaii Relocations, Hawaii Points of Interest, Mililani Hawaii Real Estate and stuff like that. Just remember to put tags pertaining to your post as well.
• Click on the drop down box for "Visibility" and click Public.
• Click on "About", "News and Events" or whichever category your post pertains to.
• Click on the correct groups (REMEMBER TO CHECK THE GUIDELINES for each group SO YOU ARE NOT BANNED FROM THE GROUP FOR POSTING IRRELEVANT POSTS) This is VERY important. All groups have different criteria and there are over 2000 groups.
• And though this graphic does not show it after the groups section you will have to click on State, County etc.  
• Now it's ready for "publication"!  Hit "post blog entry" and you're good to go.

The  Community Support page (that Bob Stewart...one of our head Active Rain Big Boys) recently developed this page and is a "save to your favorites" page. All the contributions from members with their posts on "how to's" and input for "what to do. blogging techniques, rules, guidelines, suggestions and everything and anything the community may need for helpful hints to navigating the Active Rain site.

The activerain community support: "Is Your Blog a Brick Wall?" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips by Rich Jacobson is actually one of a series of posts he is currently doing on blog tips. Brad Andersohn is THE tip man (in my book) for reaching out to the members especially in this post: 7 Mistakes to Avoid on Active Rain. Another reason why I like this new Community Support page is because I love Brad's post but his regular blog page takes too long to come up :)

www.localism.com is THE site for our consumer posts and if utilized correctly it IS THE source for information from all of us to the world of the internet which in turn appears on the consumer's screen. Why?  Google Juice baby! Active Rain folks are still tweaking and coming up with more solutions to make this work better for all of us. Be patient, be kind and courteous (the ME ME and ME syndrome is definitely a turnoff and remember that this is our site to use....) and this marketing technique can surely be a top positive for your business with connecting with potential clients.